Baghdad Bush
As part of efforts to eliminate all traces of the ousted Baathist regime from Iraq, the former Saddam International Airport has, not unreasonably perhaps, been re-named Baghdad International. The old SDA code therefore had to go and was replaced by BGW - the code for the capital's old airport at al-Muthana.
And what do the nephews in this part of the world now say BGW stands for? Bush, George. W of course!
Air turning blue
In a recent open letter to Qantas boss Geoff Dixon, Sir Richard Branson challenged him to a bet. "If Virgin Atlantic fails to fly to Australia (within 18 months, say) I'd be prepared to suffer the indignity of donning one of your stewardesses' brand new designer outfits and will work your flight from London to Australia." If Virgin gets its way, however, Sir Richard says Geoff Dixon should "wear one of our beautiful red Virgin stewardesses' uniforms and serve our inaugural guests all the way to Australia." The letter ends by saying: We expect your response within one week."
If there was a response, no-one seems to have heard it, but your Uncle can tell you that a few nights back an aircraft inbound to Sydney from Melbourne was refused permission to land because it apparently missed the curfew deadline by 45 seconds. And the airline? Virgin Blue, mate.
Hunter hunted down
Thanks to the various nephews who searched memory banks and logbooks to pin down the probable circumstances behind the unfortunate tail-high Hawker Hunter FGA9 pictured in our 22-28 July edition. Although most of you think it might be at RAF Khormsaksar (Aden) or even Jeddah, Nephew Chris Granville-White thinks it is probably Bahrain. Apparently, following this incident - in which the nose leg failed to extend rather than collapsing on landing - the rear aft of this 8 Sqdn Hunter was later mated to the forward section of another 43 Sqdn aircraft that had been a little late on the roundout. Nephew Chris flew the "composite" Hunter on 21 July 1964 from Bahrain to Masirah and thence to Khormsaksar. Now, is that clear everyone?
He who dares...
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary interviewed recently on the subject of fines for bosses who put employees under too much stress...
Q: "If an inspector was to visit Ryanair, what could you show him you were doing to make sure your employees aren't stressed?"
A: "The first thing I'd show him is the door."
Budgie blues
Concerned of Trondheim, Norway, Nephew Idar Granoien, e-mails me over a recent metric-imperial conversion in Budgie News stating, in effect, that the inch has now been devalued and is only worth 4mm. Idar asks "does this mean 1ft now equals 48mm? In my country mountains are still measured in metres, but airplanes fly at altitudes given in feet. Should I start using trains instead of planes?"
Source: Flight International
